Driving evaluation devices, driving evaluation methods, procedures and media

Abstract

The problem of the present invention is to provide a driving evaluation device that can evaluate driving performance and be used to shorten travel time in situations such as driving on a loop. To solve the above problem, the driving evaluation device of the present invention includes: an evaluation interval extraction unit (24) that detects deceleration intervals and acceleration intervals during a turn; an interval average classification unit (25) that calculates the average acceleration norm of the aforementioned deceleration intervals and acceleration intervals based on forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration; and a skill deficiency evaluation unit (28) that evaluates driving performance based on the average acceleration norm of the aforementioned deceleration intervals and acceleration intervals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a driving evaluation device, driving evaluation method, procedure, and medium for evaluating a driver's driving skills. Background Technology

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a driving evaluation device that evaluates a driver's driving skills in real time. In the driving evaluation device of Patent Document 1, the driver's driving skills are evaluated in real time by comparing a composite acceleration (which combines the vehicle's longitudinal and lateral accelerations) with a threshold set based on vehicle speed.

[0003] In addition, previous data recording systems recorded data such as vehicle speed, longitudinal acceleration, and lateral acceleration during driving. Analyzing such recorded data allows for detailed evaluation of driving techniques and can be effectively utilized to shorten lap times on tracks such as circuits.

[0004] [Previous Technical Documents]

[0005] (Patent Documents)

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-80087 Summary of the Invention

[0007] [The problem the invention aims to solve]

[0008] However, regular users sometimes drive on circuits and want to reduce their lap times. Therefore, in such cases, it's desirable to evaluate driving performance in order to shorten lap times.

[0009] However, ordinary users often find it difficult to analyze the data recorded by data logging systems, and consequently, in most cases, they cannot understand what information can be obtained from these systems. Therefore, data logging systems suffer from a lack of practical utility.

[0010] The purpose of this invention is to provide a driving evaluation device, driving evaluation method, program, and medium that can evaluate driving performance and be used to shorten driving time in situations such as driving on a ring road.

[0011] [Technical means to solve the problem]

[0012] (1) The driving evaluation device of the present invention (for example, the driving evaluation device 1 described later) evaluates the driver's driving skills of a vehicle, characterized in that it includes: a section detection unit (for example, an evaluation section extraction unit 24) for detecting deceleration and acceleration sections during a turn; and an evaluation unit (for example, an inadequate skill evaluation unit 28) for evaluating driving based on the forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration in the aforementioned deceleration and acceleration sections.

[0013] (2) Preferably, the aforementioned interval detection unit determines the accelerator opening based on the first determination reference value and the second determination reference value, and sets the interval between when the accelerator opening becomes below the aforementioned first determination reference value and before it rises above the aforementioned second determination reference value as the evaluation interval, and detects the aforementioned deceleration interval and the aforementioned acceleration interval in the aforementioned evaluation interval.

[0014] (3) Preferably, the aforementioned interval detection unit sets the interval from the deceleration side to the acceleration side as the aforementioned acceleration interval.

[0015] (4) The driving evaluation method of the present invention is executed by the driving evaluation device according to (1), and the driving evaluation method is characterized by including: a section detection step, wherein the aforementioned section detection unit detects the deceleration section and the acceleration section during a turn; and an evaluation step, wherein the aforementioned evaluation unit evaluates the driving based on the forward and backward acceleration and the lateral acceleration in the aforementioned deceleration section and the acceleration section.

[0016] (5) The program of the present invention is characterized in that a computer (e.g., the arithmetic processing circuit 2 described later) executes each step of the driving evaluation method according to (4).

[0017] (6) The medium of the present invention is characterized in that it stores the program according to (5).

[0018] (The effect of the invention)

[0019] (1) The time taken for a single lap in a loop driving test is highly correlated with the longitudinal and lateral accelerations along the lap route. Therefore, longitudinal and lateral accelerations can also be applied to driving evaluation during turns. Thus, in the driving evaluation device of the present invention, driving is evaluated based on longitudinal and lateral accelerations during deceleration and acceleration intervals. This allows for driving evaluation, which can be used to shorten travel time in loop driving tests, etc.

[0020] (2) In the driving evaluation device of the present invention, the interval between when the accelerator opening changes to below a first judgment reference value and before rising to above a second judgment reference value is set as the evaluation interval, and deceleration and acceleration intervals are detected within the evaluation interval. Thus, according to the present invention, driving skills related to turning can be determined without using a global positioning system (GPS) or the like to detect corners, thereby enabling driving evaluation and making it usable for purposes such as shortening travel time on loop roads.

[0021] (3) In the driving evaluation device of the present invention, the interval between the change of front and rear acceleration from deceleration to acceleration is set as the acceleration interval. Therefore, according to the present invention, even without the installation of additional sensors, the deceleration interval and acceleration interval can be set using front and rear acceleration to evaluate driving, which can be used to shorten travel time in loop driving, etc. Attached Figure Description

[0022] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating a driving evaluation device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 It is a graph used to illustrate the evaluation interval, deceleration interval, and acceleration interval.

[0024] Figure 3 It is a graph showing the detection results of the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range.

[0025] Figure 4 It is a graph showing the detection results of the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range.

[0026] Figure 5 This is a graph used to illustrate the evaluation of the acceleration norm.

[0027] Figure 6 It is a diagram used to illustrate the tire friction circle and tire load rate.

[0028] Figure 7 It is a graph used to illustrate the evaluation based on the tire load rate in the deceleration range.

[0029] Figure 8 It is a graph used to illustrate the evaluation based on the tire load rate in the acceleration range.

[0030] Figure 9 It is a diagram used to illustrate the evaluation based on the tire friction circle in the deceleration range.

[0031] Figure 10 It is a diagram used to illustrate the evaluation based on the tire friction circle in the acceleration range.

[0032] Figure 11This is a diagram showing an example of the evaluation results. Detailed Implementation

[0033] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the driving evaluation device 1 according to this embodiment.

[0035] The driving evaluation device 1 obtains vehicle information D1 from the vehicle via a controller area network (CAN) or similar means, and uses this vehicle information D1 to evaluate driving.

[0036] Here, the vehicle information D1 represents the current time, accelerator opening information, acceleration information along the vehicle's direction of travel (front-rear acceleration G), and acceleration information along the vehicle's width (lateral acceleration G). Furthermore, the front-rear and lateral acceleration information can be acquired by installing an acceleration sensor on the driving evaluation device 1. Additionally, the time information can be acquired using a built-in timer.

[0037] The driving evaluation device 1 includes a processing circuit 2, a display unit 3, etc.

[0038] Here, display unit 3 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display device, which notifies the user of the driving evaluation results.

[0039] The arithmetic processing circuit 2 executes various processing flows related to driving evaluation by executing a driving evaluation program stored in a storage unit (not shown), and forms functional blocks corresponding to the processing flows. The driving evaluation program is provided in advance in the driving evaluation device 1, but it can also be provided by recording on a recording medium such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, or by downloading it via a network.

[0040] The input data processing unit 21 performs data processing on the sequentially acquired vehicle information by performing noise removal and other processes so that it can be used in the driving evaluation device 1.

[0041] The single-lap time calculation unit 22 calculates the single-lap time when driving on the loop based on the time information processed by the input data processing unit 21.

[0042] The lap time evaluation unit 23 determines the lap time calculated by the lap time calculation unit 22 based on the lap time of the judgment benchmark set in the driving loop, and evaluates the lap time accordingly. The driving evaluation device 1 displays this evaluation result on the display unit 3. Thus, the driving evaluation device 1 can evaluate the driving of the entire loop based on the lap time.

[0043] Here, in order to shorten the time per lap, it is necessary to drive at high speed at the corner, so it is necessary to evaluate the driving while turning.

[0044] In turning, specifically, the range of deceleration to a speed sufficient to turn the corner, the range from deceleration to rotation, the range of vehicle rotation to change direction, the range from rotation to acceleration, and the acceleration range are continuous. However, from the driver's perspective, in turning, the deceleration range that reduces vehicle speed and the acceleration range that increases vehicle speed are continuous. By utilizing these deceleration and acceleration ranges, the travel time at the corner can be shortened.

[0045] Therefore, the evaluation interval extraction unit 24 detects the deceleration interval and acceleration interval during the turn based on the accelerator opening, and outputs the forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration as deceleration interval and acceleration interval respectively.

[0046] That is, such as Figure 2 As shown, the evaluation interval extraction unit 24 detects the interval (evaluation interval) after the accelerator opening (Thr Pedal) drops below the first judgment benchmark value TH1 and exceeds the first judgment benchmark value TH1 and before it becomes the second judgment benchmark value TH2.

[0047] In addition, the forward and backward acceleration (Long G) in the evaluation interval is determined based on the judgment benchmark value TH3, and the evaluation interval is divided into a deceleration interval TA and an acceleration interval TB.

[0048] In this embodiment, the vehicle travels at full throttle in straight sections, with acceleration determined by engine performance. At corners and other locations where full throttle is difficult, acceleration is determined by tire performance. Therefore, the first and second determination reference values ​​TH1 and TH2 are set to 75% and 83% of the accelerator opening at 100% full throttle, respectively. Furthermore, the first and second determination reference values ​​TH1 and TH2 can be set in various ways as needed.

[0049] In addition, the third judgment benchmark value TH3 is set to 0G. Therefore, in the evaluation interval, the interval from deceleration to acceleration is set as the acceleration interval.

[0050] Furthermore, here Figure 2In this context, Entry / Exit is the identification information for the deceleration zone TA and the acceleration zone TB.

[0051] The interval averaging classification unit 25 calculates the acceleration norm Gnorm by performing calculations on the forward and backward accelerations and lateral accelerations separated by the evaluation interval extraction unit 24 using the following formula (1). In addition, in the following formula (1), Long G and Lat G are the forward and backward accelerations and the lateral accelerations, respectively.

[0052] [Number 1]

[0053]

[0054] In addition, the interval averaging classification unit 25 averages the calculated acceleration norm Gnorm in the deceleration and acceleration intervals of each evaluation interval, calculates the average acceleration norm, and outputs the calculated result to the driving style evaluation unit 26 and the inadequate skill evaluation unit 28.

[0055] In other words, the average acceleration norm over a lap is highly correlated with the lap time. It can be said that the larger the average acceleration norm over a lap, the shorter the lap time, and the higher the driving skill. Furthermore, a large average acceleration norm calculated from the interval average classification part 25 indicates greater acceleration and deceleration in both the deceleration and acceleration intervals, and higher driving skill in cornering.

[0056] The driving style evaluation unit 26 determines the driving style based on the average acceleration norm obtained by the interval average classification unit 25.

[0057] Here, Figure 3 This is a graph showing the average acceleration norm (average G) over the deceleration range for drivers A, B, C, and D. Additionally, Figure 4 Similarly, a graph is plotted showing the average acceleration norm over the acceleration interval. Figure 3 and Figure 4 In the diagram, dashed lines represent the benchmark values ​​considered as targets. For driver B, the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range is roughly sufficient; conversely, as indicated by the arrows, the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range is low. Therefore, their driving style can be identified as a so-called "rotational acceleration type," where they decelerate sufficiently before entering a corner. Furthermore, for drivers C and D, the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range is almost at the benchmark value; conversely, as indicated by the arrows, the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range is low. Therefore, their driving style can be identified as a so-called "rushing in type," where they enter a corner without sufficient deceleration.

[0058] In this regard, such as Figure 5As shown, the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range (Entry average G) and the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range (Exit average G) are set as the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively, and the average acceleration norm for drivers A, B, C, and D is plotted. This coordinate plane is divided using the reference line LTH corresponding to the vehicle's driving characteristics, resulting in regions where the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range is large and small, relative to the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range. When the plotted average acceleration norm for drivers A, B, C, and D is distributed in the region with a large average acceleration norm in the acceleration range, it can be identified as a so-called "rushing in" type; when it is distributed in the region with a small average acceleration norm in the acceleration range, it can be identified as a "focused acceleration" type.

[0059] Therefore, the driving style evaluation unit 26 determines and sums the average acceleration norm calculated by the interval averaging unit 25 based on the determination criteria values ​​for deceleration and acceleration intervals set at each corner of the driving loop. Additionally, the driving style evaluation unit 26 determines and sums the average acceleration norm of the acceleration interval relative to the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval. The driving style evaluation unit 26 determines the driving style based on these summations and displays the determination result on the display unit 3.

[0060] The tire friction circle and load rate calculation unit 27 calculates the tire friction circle and tire load rate in the acceleration and deceleration intervals of each evaluation interval.

[0061] Here, as mentioned above, increasing the average acceleration norm in both acceleration and deceleration intervals allows for faster cornering and improved lap times. This necessitates efficient tire usage. Since the average acceleration norm ≈ the sum of the tire forces of all four tires, and tire force = tire friction circle × load factor, increasing the tire friction circle and load factor increases the average acceleration norm. Furthermore, the tire friction circle and load factor vary depending on driving skill, and can therefore be used to evaluate driving technique.

[0062] Furthermore, the tire friction circle represents the maximum force (both tire force and grip force) that the tire can generate, expressed as a circle. The tire load ratio is the ratio of the applied tire force to the tire force at the tire friction circle.

[0063] like Figure 6As shown, in a coordinate space where the tire friction circle (friction circle) and load rate are set as the vertical and horizontal axes respectively, as indicated by symbol P1, drivers who are new to lap driving almost always drive in a state where both the friction circle and load rate are low. If the goal is to shorten lap time from this state, beginners tend to drive in a state where only the load rate increases, as indicated by arrow X1, or in a state where the friction circle is small and only the load rate is high, as indicated by symbol P2. If this state is adopted, not only will the vehicle's potential not be fully utilized, but the lap time will also reach its limit, resulting in slow progress for most drivers.

[0064] In addition, the reasons for high load rates include ignoring the forward and backward load movement and making sudden decelerations, ignoring the left and right load movement and making sudden turns, activating the accelerator in an emergency during rotation, and ignoring the relationship between forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration and making emergency load movements.

[0065] Conversely, as shown by symbol P3, under conditions of appropriate load shifting, low load factor, and large friction circle, the G-equivalence line rises even with a low load factor. Furthermore, the rise of the G-equivalence line signifies a reduction in lap time and implies efficient time reduction. Here, the G-equivalence line is the line connecting points where the product of the friction circle and the load factor is equivalent. Therefore, as shown by arrow X2, to reduce lap time while increasing the load factor, as shown by symbol P4, both the tire friction circle and the load factor increase, further reducing lap time.

[0066] Here, the tire friction circles F of each tire can be represented by the subscripts FL, FR, RL, and RR for the left front and right front tires and the left rear and right rear tires, respectively, and expressed by the following formulas (2-1) to (2-4). Furthermore, here, h is the center of gravity height, l is the wheelbase, ax is the front-rear acceleration, ay is the lateral acceleration, df is the front tire tread depth, dr is the rear tire tread depth, and R is the mechanical balance (the front-rear distribution of load movement). Additionally, M is the mass of the vehicle associated with each tire, and g is the gravitational acceleration.

[0067] [Number 2]

[0068]

[0069]

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] The tire friction circle and load rate calculation unit 27 calculates the tire friction circle F of each tire by performing calculations using these formulas.

[0073] Similarly, the tire load factor LF can be synthesized as shown in equations (3-1) to (3-4) below, and the tire front-to-back force (tire force in the front-to-back direction) Fx and the tire lateral force (tire force in the lateral direction) Fy can be represented by the ratio with the tire friction circle F.

[0074] [Number 3]

[0075]

[0076]

[0077]

[0078]

[0079] The front and rear forces Fx of the tire are in F x_total When the value is ≥0, it can be represented by the following equations (4-1) to (4-4).

[0080] [Number 4]

[0081]

[0082]

[0083]

[0084]

[0085] Additionally, the front and rear forces Fx of the tire are in F x_total When <0, it can be represented by the following equations (5-1) to (5-2).

[0086] [Number 5]

[0087]

[0088]

[0089] When ay≧0, the lateral force Fy of the tire can be expressed by the following equations (6-1)~(6-4).

[0090] [Number 6]

[0091]

[0092]

[0093]

[0094]

[0095] In addition, the lateral force Fy of the tire when ay < 0 can be represented by the following formulas (7-1) to (7-4).

[0096] [Number 7]

[0097]

[0098]

[0099]

[0100]

[0101] In addition, F x_total Using resistance K A It is represented by the following formula (8).

[0102] [Number 8]

[0103] F x_total =M·a x +K A ·V 2 (8)

[0104] Therefore, the tire friction circle and load rate calculation unit 27 calculates the tire load rate LF of each tire by performing calculations using these formulas. Then, the calculated tire friction circle F and tire load rate LF of each tire are averaged in the acceleration and deceleration intervals of each evaluation interval.

[0105] The skill deficiency evaluation unit 28 evaluates driving skills and detects deficiencies based on the average acceleration norm detected by the interval average classification unit 25 and the tire friction circle and tire load rate calculated by the tire friction circle and load rate calculation unit 27.

[0106] More specifically, the Insufficient Skill Evaluation Unit 28 determines the average acceleration norm of the deceleration range and acceleration range detected by the Interval Average Classification Unit 25 based on the judgment benchmark value, and sums the judgment results to make a judgment. Therefore, the Insufficient Skill Evaluation Unit 28 evaluates driving skills in the deceleration and acceleration ranges and determines whether it is necessary to increase the average acceleration norm to shorten lap time. Furthermore, if it is determined that an increase in the average acceleration norm is needed, it determines in which range—acceleration or deceleration—the average acceleration norm should be increased.

[0107] The skill deficiency evaluation unit 28 further evaluates driving skills in detail based on the evaluation results based on the average value of the acceleration norm and on the tire friction circle and tire load rate, and detects skills that are insufficient for shortening lap time. Thus, the skill deficiency evaluation unit 28 evaluates the rotation, acceleration, and deceleration operations required by the driver during cornering in both the deceleration and acceleration zones.

[0108] Here, Figure 7 and Figure 8 It is through and Figure 5 In comparison, examples of tire load rates calculated by the load rate calculation unit 27 are plotted on coordinate planes where the tire load rates of the front tires and rear tires are set as the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. Figure 7 It is the deceleration range. Figure 8 This is the acceleration zone. Figure 7 and Figure 8 The evaluation is applied in the following situations: when it is determined that the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval needs to be increased separately for the deceleration interval and the acceleration interval by comparing the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval with the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval.

[0109] exist Figure 7 In the coordinate plane, if the force distribution is biased towards the lower right corner, it indicates excessive use of the front tire force. Possible causes include oversteering, speeding, and insufficient load on the front tires. Conversely, if the force distribution is biased towards the upper left, it indicates that the front tire force is being conserved. In this case, further steering is permissible, and the entry speed can be increased.

[0110] In contrast, Figure 8 In the coordinate plane, if the force distribution is biased towards the lower right corner, it indicates excessive use of the front tires. This is likely due to insufficient steering wheel return and excessive accelerator pedal depressing. Conversely, if the force distribution is biased towards the upper left, it indicates that the front tires are conserving some force, allowing for further accelerator pedal depressing and increased exit speed.

[0111] in addition, Figure 9 and Figure 10 This is an example of drawing the tire friction circles calculated by the load rate calculation unit 27 on coordinate planes where the tire friction circles of the front tire and the rear tire are set as the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. Figure 9 It is the deceleration range. Figure 10 It's the acceleration zone. Based on these... Figure 9 and Figure 10 The evaluation is applied when it is determined that the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval needs to be increased separately for the deceleration interval and the acceleration interval, by comparing the average acceleration norm of the deceleration interval with the average acceleration norm of the acceleration interval.

[0112] exist Figure 9In the coordinate plane, if the force distribution is biased towards the lower right corner, it indicates excessive use of the front tire force, suggesting oversteering and insufficient load on the front tires. Conversely, if the force distribution is biased towards the upper left, it can be determined that the front tire force is being reserved, allowing for further steering.

[0113] In contrast, Figure 10 In the coordinate plane, if the force distribution is biased towards the lower right corner, it indicates excessive use of the front tires, suggesting a failure to return the steering wheel to center or excessive accelerator pedal depressing. Conversely, if the force distribution is biased towards the upper left, it can be determined that the vehicle's orientation has not been changed.

[0114] Therefore, the insufficient skill evaluation unit 28 compares the average acceleration norm of the deceleration and acceleration intervals to detect intervals deemed to require an increase in the average acceleration norm. Furthermore, based on the detection results, such as those targeting... Figures 8-10 As described, the tire friction circle and tire load rate are compared to detect deficiencies in the technology.

[0115] Figure 11 It is through and Figure 3 and Figure 4 The diagram illustrates a comparison of driving styles and deficiencies in driving skills. In this example, the driving styles (categories) detected by the driving style evaluation unit 26 are displayed for drivers A, B, C, and D. Additionally, deficiencies in driving skills detected by the deficiency skill evaluation unit 28 are displayed using annotations.

[0116] The present invention has been described above with respect to one embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0117] Figure Labels

[0118] 1: Driving evaluation device

[0119] 2: Arithmetic processing circuit

[0120] 3: Display Section

[0121] 21: Input Data Processing Department

[0122] 22: Calculation of single-lap time

[0123] 23: Single-lap time evaluation department

[0124] 24: Evaluation Interval Extraction Section

[0125] 25: Interval Average Classification

[0126] 26: Driving Style Evaluation Department

[0127] 27: Tire Friction Circle and Load Rate Calculation Section

[0128] 28: Insufficient Skills Assessment Department

Claims

1. A driving evaluation device for evaluating a driver's driving skills, characterized in that, include: The section detection unit detects the deceleration and acceleration sections during a turn, and outputs the forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration as the aforementioned deceleration and acceleration sections respectively. The interval averaging classification section calculates the acceleration norm based on the aforementioned forward and backward accelerations and the aforementioned lateral accelerations, and averages the aforementioned acceleration norm over the aforementioned deceleration interval and the aforementioned acceleration interval respectively, thereby calculating the average acceleration norm; and, The evaluation department evaluates driving based on a coordinate plane with the average acceleration norm in the aforementioned deceleration range as the horizontal axis and the average acceleration norm in the aforementioned acceleration range as the vertical axis.

2. The driving evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned interval detection department, The accelerator opening is determined based on the first and second determination benchmark values. The interval between when the accelerator opening becomes below the first determination benchmark value and before it rises above the second determination benchmark value is set as the evaluation interval. The deceleration interval and the acceleration interval are detected within the evaluation interval.

3. The driving evaluation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The aforementioned interval detection department, The aforementioned acceleration interval is defined as the range from deceleration to acceleration.

4. A driving evaluation method, performed by the driving evaluation device according to claim 1, characterized in that, include: In the section detection step, the aforementioned section detection unit detects the deceleration and acceleration sections during a turn, and outputs the forward and backward acceleration and lateral acceleration as the aforementioned deceleration and acceleration sections. In the interval averaging classification step, the aforementioned interval averaging classification unit calculates the acceleration norm based on the aforementioned forward and backward accelerations and the aforementioned lateral accelerations, and averages the aforementioned acceleration norm in the aforementioned deceleration interval and the aforementioned acceleration interval respectively, thereby calculating the average acceleration norm; and, The evaluation process involves evaluating driving performance based on a coordinate plane with the average acceleration norm in the deceleration range as the horizontal axis and the average acceleration norm in the acceleration range as the vertical axis.

5. A program for causing a computer to perform the steps of the driving evaluation method according to claim 4.

6. A medium storing the program according to claim 5.

Images